King of Rivers

The madman's roars almost echoed throughout the park.

The tranquility of the night was shattered in an instant, and many birds in the dark woods were startled into flight by the scream.

Amidst this series of shrill, pig-slaughtering screams...

The addict turned and ran as fast as he could, so fast that he didn't even notice his hands that had fallen to the ground—of course, after losing his hands, he couldn't get them back.

Bucciarati had no interest in pursuing him.

He has done what he was supposed to do, and the drug addict has received the appropriate punishment.

Regardless of whether this guy can change even the slightest possibility in the future, having lost both hands, he will never be able to do anything to hurt others again.

These futures are not something Bucciarati needs to worry about.

He is fighting for something greater, moving forward to prevent the tragedies we are witnessing from repeating themselves.

So Bucciarati stopped looking at the addict and prepared to leave the woods with Abbacchio as soon as possible.

But just then...

The drug addict, who had only escaped a short distance, suddenly let out another scream:

"Demon! Demon!"

"Aaaaaah!"

The next second, this annoying guy was suddenly thrown back by something while flying backwards.

He crashed heavily into a tree, and his injuries eventually became so severe that he could no longer move.

By the dim light of the forest path, Bucciarati and Abbacchio saw his gruesome sight of vomiting blood.

"This"

Their expressions changed abruptly.

The surprise wasn't due to the addict's injuries, but rather because a mark had suddenly appeared on his body at that moment.

The mark looked like the shape of a fish, glowing a faint red light in the night.

Abbacchio had just beaten up this kid, so he knew that the other guy didn't have this strange supernatural mark on him just a few seconds ago.

This is clearly a stand-in attack.

"Hehe."

Just then, a soft laugh suddenly came from the dark woods:

"A demon?"

"That description is quite accurate."

As the voice spoke, the owner of the voice slowly approached from the woods.

He ignored the immobile drug addict and revealed himself to Bucciarati and Abbacchio without any attempt to conceal his presence:

He was a boy.

He was dressed in a well-fitting black suit, wearing a top hat, and his shoes were polished to a shine.

"Bucciarati."

"Abbacchio"

"That's right, you two are my targets."

The boy took off his hat and gave a slight salute to his enemy.

His every move was refined, behaving like a noble gentleman straight out of a TV drama:

"Anthony Kench".

"Gentlemen, please do not hesitate to offer your guidance."

The young man, named Anthony, revealed his identity and family background, and even stood in front of me and issued a challenge.

However, Bucciarati and Abbacchio were not paying any attention to each other.

Because their attention was drawn to the stand-in beside the boy:

That was a very peculiar stand-in.

It was a full three meters tall, and its round, plump, and enormous size contrasted sharply with the still-young Anthony.

At first glance, it looks like a humanoid stand-in, but it is not a humanoid stand-in:

Short limbs, a stout body, and black skin that gleamed under the light.

A long, enormous tongue dangled from the gaping maw, with two strange, trembling tentacles growing on either side of the mouth.

It doesn't look human at all, yet it's dressed in a human suit and wearing a human top hat.

Overall, it looks like

"A toad?!" Bucciarati was slightly taken aback.

"Catfish?!" Abbacchio blurted out.

"It's a toad, isn't it?"

How can a catfish have such a long tongue?

"No, I think it's a catfish."

"Look at those two whiskers, only catfish have whiskers like that."

Because the enemy's double was so strange, the two of them couldn't help but start arguing at this crucial moment.

"Shut up!"

The Anthony's face twisted instantly.

His previous refined demeanor vanished in an instant; he roared furiously, like a dragon whose scales had been touched:

"It's not a toad! Nor is it a catfish!"

"It's a demon—"

"Mysterious and noble demons, do you understand?"

At the time when the Stand awakened, Anthony, a teenager with delusions of grandeur, happened to be at home secretly practicing some kind of dark magic summoning ritual, following the instructions in a third-rate supernatural magazine.

The moment the "magic circle" was drawn, the big black toad appeared.

Therefore, he has always firmly believed that his substitute is an abyssal demon with whom he has made a magical pact.

Anyone who questions this is Anthony's greatest enemy:

"How dare you humiliate my 'familiar' like this!"

"The boss is right, you all deserve to die!!"

He erupted in a raging rage in a way that was incomprehensible to ordinary people.

And the demon standing before him...

The three-meter-tall, black-skinned toad took a heavy step forward.

The smell of gunpowder on the battlefield suddenly became extremely strong.

Everyone could see that the battle would begin in the next second.

In that split second, Abbacchio gave Bucciarati a look.

Although they hadn't known each other for very long, after two days of intense fighting, Bucciarati was already able to tacitly understand the signals Abbacchio was sending:

"Let me use the Moody Blues to probe the opponent."

The fighting power of the Moody Blues is not strong.

Without a doubt, Bucciarati and his Steel Chain Fingers are now the main force in this battle.

But that's precisely why Abbacchio wanted his Moody Blues to take the stage first—

Even if they can't help in the fight, they can at least help test the enemy's Stand abilities.

This is a tactic similar to Tian Ji's horse racing strategy. By using the Moody Blues to take on the riskiest initial probing, Steel Chain Fingers can ensure a greater advantage in subsequent battles.

"Okay, you go first."

Bucciarati did not refuse Abbacchio's offer.

Although this is dangerous for Abbacchio, victory is the priority now, and they must choose the tactic that gives them the better chance of winning.

So, just as that big black toad was rapidly approaching this side.

Abbacchio was the first to go forward:

"Moody Blues!"

The blue-purple humanoid stand-in instantly appeared in front of him.

Compared to that three-meter-tall humanoid toad, the Moody Blues figure looked incredibly thin.

But Abbacchio was not afraid; he was determined to use his own body to give his companions the greatest advantage.

"Let's go!"

Moody Blues suddenly threw a punch forward.

"Whoosh—"

A sound of something cutting through the air suddenly rang out.

The fat toad suddenly Kog'Maw, and its long, thick, wide, and large dark red tongue suddenly shot forward.

Like a toad preying on insects in nature, its tongue cuts through the air so fast that you can only see a shadow.

The next instant, Riot Games and tongue collided violently in mid-air.

Moody Blues staggered backward instantly, while the black toad remained unharmed.

"That tongue was very fast."

"In terms of speed alone, it's about the same as your Steel Chain Fingers."

Abbacchio's body immediately trembled.

But he paid no heed to his own additional injuries, instead using the time to gather intelligence for his comrades:

"However, its power doesn't seem to be very strong."

"Although it's better than Moody Blues, at least I wasn't seriously injured by it."

"But."

Abbacchio paused slightly.

He saw the Riot Games of the Moody Blues:

On that Riot Games, where the large tongue had just licked, a glowing red fish-shaped mark had appeared.

"That homeless man also had it on him."

What exactly does this fish-shaped symbol mean?

Abbacchio couldn't understand the meaning of the mark; he just instinctively felt danger.

Meanwhile, the enemy's attack had already resumed.

That thick, long tongue attacked with incredible speed, leaving the slow-moving Moody Blues with no way to avoid it.

Immediately afterwards, the long tongue struck Moody Blues squarely on the shoulder.

The damage wasn't actually that high; at least Abbacchio was still able to stand up unharmed after taking the second hit and receiving feedback.

But

Just as the tongue touched Moody Blues' body, a second "fish" suddenly appeared on Moody Blues' body.

"Two fish-shaped markers have been set, but nothing has happened yet."

"Does this mean that the catfish will only truly unleash its Stand ability once a certain number of these marks have been accumulated?"

Abbacchio stubbornly continued to refer to his Stand as "Catfish" in his mind.

He still couldn't understand the other party's ability, and that enormous tongue slashed out as a phantom for the third time.

That speed is too fast to avoid.

Whether they liked it or not, the Moody Blues was inevitably struck for the third time by the long tongue of that black toad.

A third "fish" soon appeared on its body, a third fish-shaped mark.

"Ha ha ha ha."

Anthony, who had been hiding behind the black toad, burst into laughter:

"You sent out the weak and ineffective Moody Blues to test the abilities of my 'familiar,' is that it?"

"Then, let me show you."

"King of Rivers— "

"Swallow it!"

The demon opened its gaping maw.

In that instant, without a sound, the Moody Blues vanished.

PS: Substitute panel.

Stand name: "King of Rivers"

The original body— Anthony Kench

Destructive power: C

Speed: B (tongue speed A)

Range: E

Endurance: A

Precision of movement: B

Growth potential: E

Abilities: Appearance is that of a three-meter-tall, enormous humanoid toad dressed in a formal suit and top hat.

It can apply a fish-shaped mark to an object by licking it with its tongue; the mark will disappear automatically after a period of time.

When three fish-shaped marks are accumulated, the "King of Rivers" can send the marked object into the alternate dimension inside its belly.

Unless ordered by Anthony, or Anthony himself dies, objects imprisoned in another dimension can never escape.